Well today is a big day around here. Today is my middle son’s 13th birthday which means that I am now officially a mom to two teenagers! How did that happen? I feel like I’m still in my twenties which is much too young for teenagers!! :) Someone please tell me that the hormone fluctuations and mood swings are not as bad in boys as they are in girls?? I’m scared!

So for his birthday my son has chosen to go out to eat with just his mom and dad. In a house shared with two other siblings, getting mom and dad all to yourself is a big treat. So off we’ll go to Swiss Chalet (yay to it being allergy friendly!) to celebrate. We’ll also have Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free Chocolate Cake and Frosting for dessert (made at home of course). Can’t wait!

Another exciting thing going on today is my daughter is joining up with three other homeschooled girls (Home Ec Class) to do a Big Cook marathon. Which means, are you ready for this, that she will come home with EIGHT freezer ready meals. Woohooo! Guess who doesn’t have to do any cooking this week!! I’m so excited and thankful to one of the other moms for coming up with this brilliant plan :)

I’d never heard of The Big Cook cookbook before my girlfriend told me about it. I then checked it out online and was excited to learn that this team of three moms are not only Canadian but live in the same province as me. Their cookbook looks like a fantastic resource for preparing many freezer meals all in one day. In fact they say that with four friends you can prepare 200 meals in just one day! Now that sure would take the stress out of cooking wouldn’t it. They also have a second cookbook out called The Big Cook 2 but it looks like only two of the original three ladies authored this one. They’ve only got one sample recipe up on their website, Candace’s Soy Ginger Salmon, but it will give you an idea of how each recipe is set up. Anyway I haven’t personally tried either of these cookbooks out myself but I will definitely report back on what I think of the meals next week.

They’ll also be preparing a couple of the meals from this revised and expanded Once a Month Cooking cookbook. Has anyone used this one? It’s from 2007.

Recipe Highlight:

This past weekend I attended a baby shower for a friend and made this delicious Pumpkin Pie Dip. It was really good and I love bringing things to potlucks that don’t need to be heated or tended to. It also looked pretty too in a little carved out pumpkin served with apple slices and ginger cookies.

So not a lot of recipe links this week from me but never fear you can find plenty of recipes on my Recipe Index Rounduppage, over 130 recipe indexes on the list in fact! I’ve left the linky open too so if your recipe index isn’t on the list, please feel free to add it!!

Also don’t forget to like the Menu Plan Monday Facebook page and share it with your friends too. Feel free to share any MPM resource links you find helpful throughout the week on there and/or ask any questions about menu planning if you’ve got them.

Happy Birthday to your son! I’ve raised 4 sons and 1 daughter. (daughter is 15) The boys were DEFINITELY easier to deal with as teenagers then a girl is. At least for me it was/is! Have a great week and thanks for hosting. :)

Oh, I can’t wait till my kids are old enough to cook. I’m prepping them now (ages 6, 6 and 8) by involving them in choosing recipes, shopping and preparing foods. I also like when they help with menu planning. Bwa ha ha–they’ll be trained soon! :)

Happy birthday to your son! I have one about to turn 14. In our experience boy hormones are just as up and down, but the expression is different. Being involved in a sport (he swims competitively) has definitely helped dial down the tension. What I’d be worried about, if it hasn’t happened already, is the boost in your grocery bill. They are HUNGRY! In fact, when he gets cranky, it usually means he needs food. :) My son eats ALL DAY. Pasta, peanut butter, string cheese and cereal are staples around here. Start stocking up. :)

How I wish I could tell you that boys’ mood swings are less dramatic than girls… but not in my house!!! My boys have given every girl I know a run for her money. (By the way, my youngest turns twelve later this month…can’t believe it either!)

I love, love my Big Cook book!! The receipes are fantastic and I have not even tried all of them yet! Very happy to hear we live in the same province as well. This means they understand the potential challenges we have when preparing wholesome meals for our families.

I spent a day doing “a big cook” with four other women a couple years ago. We each went home with about 28 meals (two of 14c different recipes) to put in the freezer. It was fantastic! My 10 yo dd loves to bake, and I sure want to encourage it!